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Mark Anthony Soza, 57, of Roebuck, pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography and was sentenced to 40 months in prison.

Evidence presented at the plea hearing showed that Soza, who was a Spartanburg School District 4 teacher prior to his arrest in February 2012, was a customer of a commercial child pornography operation under investigation by the Department of Homeland Security.

This investigation found that Soza completed PayPal transactions which gave him access to websites known to contain child pornography.

Agents approached Soza on Feb. 22, 2012, and he confessed that he had large quantities of child pornography on his computers. Agents seized Soza’s computers and analysis showed that there were multiple images and videos of children under the age of 18 engaged in sexual acts and displaying genitals.

Law enforcement estimated that Soza had more than 20,000 illegal images in his possession.

The case was investigated by agents of the Department of Homeland Security, Office of Investigations.